Green belt

[5] In 1580 Elizabeth I of England banned new buildings in a 3-mile wide belt around the City of London in an attempt to stop the spread of plague.

[6] In modern times, the term emerged from continental Europe where broad boulevards were increasingly used to separate new development from the centers of historic towns; most notably the Ringstraße in Vienna.

Alongside the CPRE they lobbied for a continuous belt (of up to two miles wide) to prevent urban sprawl, beyond which new development could occur.

[13] Government planners also seek to protect the green belt as its local farmers are engaged in peri-urban agriculture which augments carbon sequestration, reduces the urban heat island effect, and provides a habitat for organisms.

[12] Local residents in affluent parts of a green belt, as in parts of the city, can be assured of preserving any localized bourgeois status quo present and so assuming the green belt is not from the outset an area of more social housing proportionately than the city, it naturally tends toward greater economic wealth.

The stated motivation and benefits of the green belt might be well-intentioned (public health, social gardening and agriculture, environment), but inadequately realized relative to other solutions.

Critics include Mark Pennington and the economics-heavy think tanks such as the Institute of Economic Affairs who would see a reduction in many green belts.

[17] Examples commonly cited are the Ottawa suburbs of Kanata and Orleans, both of which are outside the city's green belt and are currently undergoing explosive growth.

This leads to other problems, as residents of these areas have a longer commute to workplaces in the city and worse access to public transport.

It also means people have to commute through the green belt, an area not designed to cope with high levels of transportation.

There are many examples whereby the actual effect of green belts is to act as a land reserve for future freeways and other highways.

Critics argue that the green belts defeat their stated objective of saving the countryside and open spaces.